If the Buck Fits
by HiVizJefford
Summary: When Blossom is kidnapped, Princess Morbucks attempts to join the Powerpuff Girls in her place. But rejection could lead to alternate plans, ones that could put the city of Townsville in great danger.
1. Part 1

**_IF THE BUCK FITS_**

Part 1

 _ **The city of Townsville…a busy, bustling modernist city, unfortunately a city also rife with crime and villainy. But it also has its own little protectors of peace and justice, the Powerpuff Girls! Who, I believe, are just about to leave their suburban home, to go on patrol.**_

"What do you mean, you're not going on patrol?" a voice came from the Utonium household.

 _ **Hmm, maybe I spoke too soon.**_

"We can't, Bubbles and I have got to finish this," Buttercup replied, not taking her eyes off the screen, displaying the video game that she and Bubbles were playing.

"Jump Buttercup, jump!" Bubbles said, as Buttercup reached a ledge in the game.

"I am, I am!" Buttercup responded irritably.

"We've got to go on patrol girls!" Blossom ordered. "We're already leaving it later than normal!"

"Then go out yourself, I'm sure you can handle it!" said Buttercup.

"Surely you can leave that game and come back to it when we've finished?!"

Buttercup span round, "No, we can't! There hasn't been a save point for half-an-hour, and this section's really difficult!"

"So you're not coming, is that it?" Blossom asked.

"Nope," Buttercup finished, turning back to the screen.

Blossom sighed. "Fine!" she turned and floated to the door. "See you later!" she said to them, before flying out and away from the house.

"Come on Bubbles, get the coin!" Buttercup shouted at Bubbles.

"I'm tryin'!" Bubbles squeaked in response.

With a pink streak, the red-haired leader of the Powerpuff Girls headed towards the centre of Townsville, watching intently for any sign of criminal activity. About fifteen minutes passed, and she had found nothing illicit occurring.

"Nothing yet," she remarked to herself. "And I hope it stays that way. Without the other girls, I'll have to handle anything that happens on my own."

She was distracted when, from a nearby alley in one of the quieter quarters of Townsville, she heard a voice calling, "Help me! Oh please, someone help!"

Blossom momentarily hesitated, and said, "Okay, if this is just a simple mugging, I can handle it. Otherwise, I may have to find a way to call for help." She then quickly flew down to the alley, imposing herself at the street end. At the far side of the dead-end alley, there appeared to be two hoodlums, one of an average height, thin and slender, and a shorter one with black hair. They were surrounding what appeared to be a young girl with blonde hair and a pink dress. She seemed to be shaking with fear. The most distinctive feature of the two hoodlums though, was their green skin…

"Hold it right there, Gangreen gang!" Blossom shouted. Snake and Lil' Arturo span around at hearing this. Both of them looked pretty scared at Blossom's dramatic arrival. "Where's the rest of your motley crew then, eh?" she continued.

"No, it'sss all jusssst a big missssundersssstanding!" Snake said quickly.

"Misunderstanding my foot!" Blossom scoffed, striding forwards. "Let the girl go, and _maybe_ I won't beat you up before I take you to jail!"

"Okay, okay, we's give up!" Lil' Arturo stuttered.

Blossom stopped, smiling triumphantly. "Good, I'm glad to see-…" she was cut off though, as suddenly, a big, green hand clamped over her mouth, and another pinned her arms to her sides. Whoever it was, they had a strong grip. She tried to cry out for help, but her shouts were too muffled to be audible to anyone.

Almost immediately, Blossom went to break free, but just before she did, there was a sharp prick in her upper-right arm. Blossom broke free of the clutches of her assailant, and twisted in mid-air to face them. As she did, though, she started to feel dizzy.

Big Billy was now standing in front of her, and to his right, was the Gangreen Gang's leader, Ace. He was grinning confidently, arms folded. Blossom clenched her teeth furiously, and raised her fist to hit him. But as she did, she began to feel weak, and her vision blurred. She glanced down at Ace's hand, and despite her fading vision, saw a hypodermic needle. She gasped, now feeling sick, weak and dizzy. Her eyes rolled back, eyelids closing, and she dropped backwards to the ground.

As the pink Powerpuff fell into unconsciousness, the five members of the Gangreen Gang gathered around, Grubber throwing off his little girl disguise.

"Good work you guys," Ace congratulated Snake, Grubber and Arturo on their distraction.

"Thanksssssss Bossss," Snake smiled.

"So, what do we do with her Ace?" Arturo asked.

"Billy, if you would," Ace ordered. Billy pulled some metal chains out from behind him, handing them to the others. Ace continued, "Be quick about it guys, I'm not sure how long she'll be out. Then let's get back to base, fast." The rest of the gang nodded, and set about restraining Blossom.

 _ **Oh no! What fiendish plan do the Gangreen Gang have up their sleeves?! What are they gonna do with Blossom?! We can only hope her sisters can find her before it's too late!**_

A little later, back at the Powerpuff home, Buttercup and Bubbles were still playing the game; their faces a snapshot of intense concentration. They had completely overlooked the fact that Blossom had been gone for over an hour, and was yet to return home.

Just then, the Professor called from the kitchen, "Girls! Dinner!"

Bubbles dropped her controller, and hovered over to the table, as the Professor laid out four plates, each with a segment of lasagne on it.

"Buttercup! Dinner's out!" the Professor called again.

"In a minute Professor!" Buttercup replied, still not taking her eyes off of the screen.

Sighing, the Professor strode over, standing directly behind her. "Buttercup," he said sternly.

Buttercup span around, and started to protest, "Professor, just-…"

"Buttercup, turn that off, _now._ "

She groaned, and relented, pausing the game and hovering over to the table. As the Professor walked over as well, he suddenly realised that the family was missing one member. "Girls? Where's Blossom?"

Buttercup shrugged, already starting to shovel the food into her mouth. Bubbles answered the Professor, saying, "She went out on patrol earlier."

The Professor was surprised, "What, on her own? Why?!"

She looked down, slightly sheepish, and continued, "Me and Buttercup were busy playin' that game, and she wanted us to go out on patrol, but we didn't wanna go, so she went out on her own."

The Professor shook his head. "That's hardly a good reason to shun your duties and let your sister go out by herself! When she gets back you two should apologise to her." Bubbles nodded a little in agreement.

"Sure, whatever," Buttercup mumbled through her full mouth. Sighing, the Professor sat down on his chair and began to eat too.

But Blossom didn't return home. As the three continued through dinner, their concern grew and grew. Eventually, once dinner was over and as the girls' bedtime arrived, the Professor decided to call the police.

"Hello? I'm calling to report a missing person…"

As he spoke on the phone, Bubbles and Buttercup talked amongst themselves.

"This is our fault," Bubbles said quietly.

"Bubbles, don't go jumpin' to conclusions! There could be dozens of reasons as to why Blossom's not back yet!"

"Yes, but she would've told me, you or the Professor if she was gonna be out late. She'd have called or something!"

Buttercup, still trying to prise some positivity from the situation, presented another scenario, "Well, maybe it came up a short notice. You know how she likes to help out the townspeople with little jobs and such."

"So late in the evening?" Bubbles disputed. "No, something's happened to her, I'm sure of it." She looked down. "And if something has, it's our fault. We should always be there for her, not shrugging her off like we did."

"Yeah Bubbles, I know, but that still doesn't mean something's wrong. She'll turn up before morning, I'm sure!"

Bubbles, speaking in a tiny voice, said, "I hope so."

"Okay, thank you," The Professor finished speaking on the phone, hanging up. He turned to the girls. "If the police get any information on Blossom, they'll call me back. As for you two, it's time for bed."

The two nodded, and, rather reluctantly, flew off upstairs. They got washed and dressed, and tucked themselves into bed, the Professor still sitting by the phone downstairs, too concerned about Blossom to tuck them in himself.

Buttercup did sometimes complain about being cramped in the single bed with her sisters. Tonight, with Blossom's unoccupied pink sheets lying between Bubbles and Buttercup, the bed felt much bigger and emptier than usual. Despite her earlier optimism, Buttercup couldn't help but feel a twinge of guilt and worry, as she drifted off to sleep…

* * *

The following morning, Professor Utonium was on the phone again. He was dishevelled, like he hadn't slept all night. His voice was laced with worry as he said, "Has there still been no sign of Blossom, Ms. Bellum?"

Ms. Bellum, on the other end of the phone, replied, "I'm Sorry Professor. I've had missing person reports out to every policeman in Townsville, but there's been no sign. All we have is that she was last seen at around 6:30 yesterday evening, but nothing after then."

"Okay, thank you Ms. Bellum," the Professor hung up the phone, and then leant up against the wall next to it. _Oh Blossom,_ he thought sadly, wiping a tear from one of his eyes. _Where can you be? Please, wherever you are sweetheart,_ please _be safe…_ He was interrupted from his thoughts when Bubbles and Buttercup came downstairs. He tried to smile reassuringly at them, but the smile was unconvincing.

Bubbles had her Octi in the crook of one of her arms, and her eyes looked watery with unshed tears. Buttercup looked more composed, but her voice wavered as she asked, "Has there been any news on Blossom yet, Professor?"

The Professor frowned, "No girls, nothing."

Hearing this, Bubbles looked like she was going to start crying. The Professor knelt down next to her and pulled her into a comforting hug. Buttercup crossed her arms and huffed, but couldn't hide the concern etched across her face. Bubbles could see this, so she reached out with her arm and pulled a reluctant Buttercup into the embrace.

After a minute, Bubbles said, "Can we go out and look for her Professor?"

The Professor shook his head. "I'm sorry girls, but you two need to get off to school."

"But-…" Bubbles began to protest.

"No buts, Bubbles," he said sternly. "If she hasn't turned up by the end of school time, you can both look for her. Until then, I'll keep my own eyes open, okay?" he smiled warmly at her, trying to cheer her up.

Bubbles smiled back a little, "Okay."

"Don't worry too much about Blossom," the Professor added. "She knows how to look after herself."

Buttercup prised herself free from the hug, and took a deep breath, composing herself and returning to her usual tough persona. "Come on Bubbles, let's go," she huffed.

Bubbles left the Professor's arms too and said, "Okay," she kissed him on the forehead. "See you later Professor."

He smiled again, "See you soon sweetie." Bubbles and Buttercup both flew out of the door and headed off to school.

At Pokey Oaks, Buttercup explained Blossom's absence to Ms. Keane. She frowned sadly, "Ohh, that's awful! I'm so sorry to hear Buttercup!"

"I know," Buttercup muttered, taking her seat at the girls' table. Blossom's usual seat remained empty.

Robin, the girls' next door neighbour, moved over to sit with them. "Girls? What's wrong?" she asked. "Where's Blossom?"

Bubbles responded, "We don't know! She went on patrol last night. We were s'posed to go with her, but Buttercup and I didn't wanna leave our video game."

"So she was on her own?"

"Yes! If we had been with her and had her back, then maybe…" Bubbles trailed off, holding back some tears. Robin reached over and took her hand, giving it a comforting squeeze. Bubbles smiled back a little.

Ms. Keane started the lesson. Bubbles and Buttercup tried their best to focus, but their minds kept drifting to Blossom. At her own table, towards the back of the class, Princess Morbucks kept eyeing the girls thoughtfully. Buttercup happened to glance in her direction, and noticed. She grimaced menacingly at her, and turned back to the front.

"Right class. Recess!" Ms. Keane eventually called. Most of the class streamed out within a few seconds, but Bubbles, Buttercup, Robin and Princess were slower in leaving. As Robin led Bubbles and Buttercup towards the door, Princess stood in front of them.

"Right then Prissy-Puff Girls! I hear your sister is missing!" she sneered.

"Yeah, what's it to you?" Buttercup replied, keeping her annoyance hidden.

"It means you're lacking a leader! And you're gonna need a replacement! And there's no better candidate than me!" Princess snootily proclaimed.

"Why would we _ever_ let _you_ lead us?" Buttercup growled.

"Because I'm smart and pretty, just like your precious sister. I'm a fiery redhead, just like Blossom. One trump card I have over her, though, is that I'm not a bossy, stuck-up, egotistical-…"

"Shut up!" Bubbles suddenly screeched, cutting her off. Princess glared at her, and Bubbles continued, "Stop talkin' like that! Blossom is better than you could ever be Princess, you mean, spoiled little-…"

"Bubbles!" Ms. Keane shouted severely from across the classroom. She had missed most of what had been said, and had only noticed Bubbles yelling. "What have I told you about shouting in the classroom?" Bubbles looked at her for a moment, her lip quivering. She suddenly buried her face into her hands, and flew out into the playground, crying.

"Bubbles wait!" Robin cried, running after her.

Buttercup stared at Princess for a few moments more, and muttered quietly, "You're nothing but a vulture Princess, you know that?" before hovering out to the playground herself.

Princess watched her go. Then she murmured darkly, "No matter the circumstances, they _never_ let me be a Powerpuff Girl. Someday, I will be one, whatever they say." She then walked outside herself.

Meanwhile, across the city, in Townsville Dump, Ace was trying to placate some of his fellow gang members.

"Listen you guys. Whether yous likes it or not, we have to sit on this girl until I says otherwise," he said.

"But bosss," Snake complained. "If we leave it too long, her sissssterssss will find her. And if they do…"

"Thrrrb Prrrbt," Grubber finished.

"Big Billy scared uf da Powapuff Gurls," Billy added.

"Exactly. We don't like thissss Acccee," Snake said.

Ace reached over and smacked Snake on the side of the head. "We keep her until _I_ tells you otherwise. And until then, you'll be happy with it. Understand?"

"Uhh, yes boss," Billy replied.

"Good," Ace smiled. He turned to Snake, "Now, it's your turn to keep watch on her."

"Ye-yesss bosss," Snake nodded nervously. He and Ace went over to a section of the shack. Ace reached over to it and pressed a hidden switch, revealing a secret room. To anyone who looked at it from the outside, it simply looked like an old steel container lying against their shack. In the room, shackled securely to the wall, was Blossom. She glanced up when they entered, grunting angrily. She said something that was muffled by the strip of tape across her mouth.

"Right Arturo," Ace said to the little Mexican who was sitting nearby. "You're relieved."

"Thanks Ace," he said, leaving the room. Snake took his place on the chair. Blossom struggled against her restraints.

Ace shook his head. "I've already told you Blossom, you won't get free from those restraints. This room has been designed 'specially so you can't use your powers to escape," he then turned and left the room too.

Blossom glared at him as he did. She then looked around the room, seeing the spots where she had tried to use her eyebeams to blast her way out earlier. But apart from the scorch marks on the wall, they'd had no effect. She had even tried using her sonic-scream or something to try and summon help, but the tape over her mouth was stopping her from using any of her powers that emanated from there. She therefore dared not use her ice breath; all that would do is freeze the inside of her mouth. _The gang can't have built all this themselves,_ she thought. _They must be working for someone. But who…?_

* * *

Later, at Pokey Oaks, the school day was nearly over. Every now and again, Buttercup made threatening faces at Princess, who appeared to be deep in thought at her desk.

Suddenly, the hotline began ringing. For a few moments, Bubbles and Buttercup didn't do anything, instinctively waiting for Blossom to answer. When it hit them a few moments later, Buttercup shook her head, and drifted over to answer it herself. "Yes Mayor?" she asked.

"There's a monster attack down here!" the Mayor's panicked voice came down the line, as a winged, almost pterodactyl like creature flew down towards his office, smashing through the ceiling. It caught him in its talons, and began lifting him into the air. "HELP!" he yelled in panic, as the receiver was pulled from his hand, slamming back down onto the cradle.

On the other end, Buttercup was suddenly met with a dial tone. She replaced the receiver and turned to Bubbles, "Monster downtown Bubbles! Let's get down there!"

"Right!" Bubbles nodded, and the pair took flight, smashing right through the classroom ceiling. As they left, Princess reached under her table, grabbing something she'd kept hidden for events like this.

"BWAHHHH!" the Mayor screamed from the pterodactyl's talons, as it carried him high above the streets of Townsville. It flew into buildings, wrecking them, and citizens fled in panic, as Bubbles and Buttercup arrived on scene.

"Buttercup, what do we do?" Bubbles asked quickly.

"Let's take it head-on!" Buttercup ordered, and she flew into attack, Bubbles following suit.

Buttercup reared back to punch, but as she did, the monster suddenly turned to face her, and let loose a breath of fire. Buttercup screamed as the flames pierced her skin, and she dropped down to get away. Bubbles saw this happen, and she swooped around to attack it from the side, but the monster flung out one of it's wings, striking her and sending her tumbling backwards.

Buttercup clenched her teeth furiously, brushing off her singes. She powered up and fired her eyebeams a couple of times, but Bubbles jabbed her, saying, "Don't use your eyebeams! You might hit the Mayor!"

"What else do you suggest-…?" Buttercup started.

"Look out!" Bubbles cried out, and she pulled Buttercup out of the way of another breath of fire from the pterodactyl. "We could sure use Blossom's ice breath right about now!" she remarked.

"Yeah," Buttercup said, "But since she's not here, we'll have to try something different!" She thought for a moment, and decided. "Let's try a pincer attack!"

"Okay!" Bubbles agreed. Buttercup flew away to attack it from its right, whilst Bubbles got ready to strike from the left.

After a couple of moments, she heard Buttercup call out, "Now!" In respective streaks of blue and green, Bubbles and Buttercup charged at the monster at top speed. By the time it recognized the imminent danger, it was too late for it to dodge.

"Uhh, I hope they've taken me into consideration," the Mayor said, still hanging from the pterodactyl's talons. In a spectacular display, Bubbles and Buttercup slammed into both sides of the monster, and it exploded in a shower of greenish-blue goo.

"Yeah! That's what I'm talkin' about!" Buttercup shouted gleefully, covered in the monster's viscera.

"Mayor!" Bubbles suddenly cried, looking down. Buttercup looked down too, and gasped.

The Mayor had been thrown clear from the monster, and was falling fast towards the ground. "BWAHHHH! HELP!" he screamed. The girls flew headlong towards him, but they could see they weren't going to be able to catch him in time.

Just moments before the Mayor hit the ground; a stream of purple smoke suddenly appeared, grasping the Mayor just in the nick of time. Bubbles and Buttercup stared in confusion, as Princess landed carefully on the ground, setting the Mayor down. "Well thank you young citizen!" the Mayor thanked.

"No problem Mr. Mayor. Glad to be of assistance," Princess smiled.

"Now, I have a date with some beautiful pickles!" the Mayor grinned, scooting off down the street back towards his office.

Princess watched him go. From behind her, came a voice, "What do you think you're doing?" Buttercup asked furiously.

"Helping," Princess haughtily replied. "You won't let me be a Powerpuff Girl, so I figured I'd prove myself."

"Well we don't need your help, thank you very much," Buttercup hissed back.

"Do you not? If it weren't for me, Townsville would need a new Mayor!"

Buttercup crossed her arms in frustration, but Bubbles couldn't help but concede her point, "Well…I suppose we do have to thank you for helping us out here…"

"Thank you Bubbles," Princess smiled at Bubbles for a moment, but then sneered again. "You see? You girls are _nothing_ without your sister! So, are you gonna let me in or what?"

"Erm…" Bubbles considered.

"Forget it!" Buttercup interrupted. "You've wronged us too much in the past for us to want _you_ in our team!" She checked the time, and seeing school was over, flew straight for home.

Bubbles stayed a few moments longer, and said to Princess, "Er, we'll sleep on it Princess. But remember, no matter what, you're _not_ replacing Blossom!" before flying off after Buttercup. Princess watched her leave, clenching her hands and glaring angrily…

* * *

Hours later, at the Utonium household, the Professor, Bubbles and Buttercup were eating dinner. Or were, at least, were trying to. They were only eating because they were all starving, rather than actually wanting to sit and eat. For all of the previous few hours, Bubbles and Buttercup had searched for Blossom high and low through as much of Townsville as they could, but everything had come up blank. To them, it just seemed as though Blossom had disappeared off the face of the Earth.

The Professor, attempting to break the dismal mood, tried to make small talk, "So, what did you girls do at school today?"

"Oh…just work…" Bubbles murmured quietly, pushing some of her food around her plate.

"Bubbles," the Professor said, "please believe me; we _will_ find Blossom, no matter what."

"But Professor," said Buttercup despairingly, "we searched just about every nook in Townsville where Blossom could be, and we didn't turn up _anything._ Where _is_ she?! Gah, we're so stupid, we shouldn't have let her go out alone!"

"Please don't blame yourself pumpkin," the Professor said calmly. "Blossom knew she shouldn't have gone out by herself."

"I guess so," Buttercup sighed. She sat up straighter, steeling herself and saying, "I'm goin' back out _right_ now, and I'm not gonna come back 'till I've found Blossom!"

At that moment, the hotline rang. Buttercup growled, and answered, "What Mayor?!"

The Mayor, sitting in his now roofless office, cried out, "Girls! There're three bank robberies happening at once! You've gotta stop 'em! But since there are three of you, it shouldn't be much too of a problem, right?"

Buttercup winced and shouted back, "Blossom's missing, you pickle-obsessed dunderhead! How'd you forget already?!"

"Oh, erm, sorry. But could you please deal with the robberies?"

"Fine, we're on it!" and Buttercup hung up. She turned to Bubbles, "The Mayor says there are three bank robberies happenin' right now!"

"What are we gonna do Buttercup?" Bubbles asked.

"I don't know! Let's just get out there and do what we can!" and with that, Buttercup shot out the door, Bubbles following close behind.

They flew across the suburbs towards the city. As they neared one of the banks, Bubbles suddenly broke off from Buttercup. "Bubbles! What are you doing?" she called.

"You take this one Buttercup! I'll go and deal with one of the others!" she replied. Buttercup nodded in agreement, descending towards her bank, whilst Bubbles streaked away towards another.

Without too great a hardship, Bubbles and Buttercup dealt with the robbers at their respective banks, and met up again to deal with the last one. They quickly arrived at the bank, but were only met with the aftermath of the robbery.

"Powerpuff Girls! Where were you?" one of the guards cried.

"Dang it!" Buttercup snapped furiously, kicking a stone pebble across the ground with such force, it crashed through and left a hole in a nearby building.

"What's that? Did the Powerpuff Girls fail to stop a bank robbery?" came a sudden voice. The two recognised the voice instantly, and turned to see Princess hovering above them, dangling two robbers in her hands. She flung them to the ground; the impact knocking them out. She smiled smugly, whilst Buttercup quivered, her rage building.

"What did I _say,_ Princess?" she growled. "I told youwe're _not_ having you in our team. So get lost, or I'll _make_ you get lost…"

"Oh really?" Princess taunted.

Buttercup clenched her fist, and was about to fly at her, but Bubbles put her hand on her arm. Buttercup glanced at Bubbles, and seeing the calming sternness in her sky-blue eyes actually made her rage desist a little. Her face still crossed with anger, she took a deep breath, calming herself down a little.

Bubbles said, "Princess, could you please leave us alone?"

"Fine!" Princess snapped, turning to fly away. Before she did, she said, in a calmer voice, "But my offer is still on the table." And with that, she flew off.

"That stupid, lousy brat," Buttercup hissed.

"Buttercup, please calm down," Bubbles said, quietly.

"Sure, whatever." She muttered. She shook her head and turned to face Bubbles, "So, shall we get back to looking for Blossom?" Buttercup asked. Bubbles nodded.

They were about to fly off, when one of the security guards called, "Uh, Powerpuff Girls? There's a phone call for you."

Glancing at each-other in confusion, Bubbles took the phone from the guard. Buttercup leaned in so she could hear, as Bubbles said, "Hello?"

Ms. Bellum's voice came from the other end, "Bubbles, listen. We've got a situation down here at city hall. Fuzzy Lumpkins has broken in and taken the Mayor hostage!"

"What?! Why?"

"He says that the Mayor stole his banjo last time he was in jail, and wants it back."

"That can't be true, right?"

Ms. Bellum sighed. "Well that's the thing. The Mayor's wife called and mentioned that she's found a banjo she'd never seen before."

Bubbles nodded. "Okay, we'll be down there shortly," she terminated the call, tossing the phone back to the guard.

"Fuzzy at the Mayor's office?!" Buttercup exclaimed. "What next?!"

"I dunno," Bubbles replied, "but let's go!" the two shot off into the sky.

The Fuzzy affair took a good hour to deal with, and he was eventually placated and sent on his way, reunited with his banjo. This incident was followed by a few more little crimes that kept Buttercup and Bubbles busy until late, and every time they thwarted the villains, Princess was there, taunting them, or 'helping' stop the crime. Each time Buttercup threatened Princess, and each time Bubbles prevented Buttercup from following through with her threats. Eventually, it became so late that the two had to return home, feeling far too tired to even consider continuing their search for their sister.

As the two got ready for bed, Bubbles remarked, "That was such an awful day, and we're no closer to finding Blossom."

"Yeah…" Buttercup said, sounding distant, but angry. Suddenly she whirled on Bubbles, grimacing furiously. Bubbles, scared at this sudden flare-up, jumped backwards a little.

"Buttercup?" she whimpered in confusion.

"Have you gone soft on Princess or what?!" Buttercup shouted. "Why'd you keep making me back down every time she taunted us, huh?!"

Defensively, Bubbles replied, "Fightin' with her is just gonna cause us more problems Buttercup!"

"Like what?" Buttercup said sarcastically. "That Morbucks is all talk! What could she _possibly_ do if I beat her up a little?"

Tears falling from her eyes, Bubbles squeaked, "It's not what Blossom would want!"

Buttercup's anger all but vanished, and she stared at her now sobbing sister, stunned.

"Bu-Bubbles," Buttercup stammered. "I-I'm…I'm sooorrr…" She didn't get a chance to finish, as Bubbles ran over to the bed, throwing herself face-down onto her pillow, muffling her sobs.

Buttercup sighed, lowering her arms, and hovered onto the bed next to her. She put her hand on her back, and tried to apologise again, "I'm sorr-… I'm sorry Bubbles. I just hate that Princess thinks she can shove herself into the team because Blossom goes missing."

Bubbles looked up, eyes still teary. She said, softly, "It's okay, Buttercup. I'm sorry," She let herself collapse into her sister's arms, resting her head gently on her chest. Bubbles cried a little bit more, as Buttercup hugged her and patted her on the back comfortingly.

Buttercup felt a few tears leak from her eyes, and she whispered tenderly, "Shhh, Bubbles. We'll find Blossom, it'll be okay."

The two sisters stayed in this embrace for a while, both eventually falling asleep like this…

 _ **End of Part 1**_

* * *

 **Author's Note:** So, here's a new story from me, and this one is a much longer affair than my previous ones.

This story actually started out as a shorter, simpler story like the other two I published already, and I actually had it finished off last year. But, after a couple of proof-reads, I ultimately decided it was too good of an idea to use on a short story, so I've given the entire thing an overhaul.

The original story was very similar in tone to the cartoon, and to be fair most of it still is. But it is now much longer, more in-depth and later on the tone does become a little bit darker. This first chapter is actually the only one that contains any of original material I wrote; most of the remaining story comes from my later revisions.

Regardless, please leave your thoughts (I'd like to know if I'm doing a good job or just wasting my time) and stay tuned for Part Two, coming soon!


	2. Part 2

Part 2

 _ **The city of-…oh hang on, I've done this already. Anyway, it's a new day, and we find Bubbles and Buttercup mid-way through another period of school!**_

The two Powerpuff Girls were out in the playground during lunchtime. As the morning had moved along, Buttercup was sure she could feel Princess' glare on her back. She knew Princess well enough by now to know that direct rejection of her wishes could come around to bite them in the back, and Buttercup had made a mental note to keep watch on her over the course of the day.

Despite her fears, the entire morning had passed by without incident, and the two girls decided to make the most of recess and try to have a bit of fun.

It was this mindset that had brought Buttercup into an intense game of dodgeball that had been going for the past few minutes.

Buttercup ducked underneath one ball that was thrown at her, which bounced away behind her towards the rest of the playground. She ignored the lost ball, as she was more concerned with the other ones that Robin was about to throw at her.

Suddenly Buttercup was hit with a ball to the back of the head; not hard, but enough to irritate her. She turned around to find the thrower, and was none too surprised to find Princess smiling at her. "Oops, sorry about that!" she said sarcastically.

"Hey! What'd you do that for?!" Buttercup snapped, though she felt she there was no need to guess.

"To get your attention! I'm reasonable a reasonable person; I decided that I'd give you all night to make a final decision on my offer." She paused. "Well? I'm waiting for your answer!"

Buttercup stared in disbelief for a moment. Then in a low, furious voice, she said, "I told you Princess, we have _no_ interest in working with you."

"Oh come _on!_ " Princess whined, starting to look infuriated. She took a step towards Buttercup, her voice rising in irritation. "Why?! Why do you _always_ oppose me?!" Everyone else in the playground was starting to notice the building argument, and those who were farther off began to walk over.

"Why? You really need to ask? You won't leave us alone, that's why! Don't you think we've got enough to worry about without you pestering us?! You're a jerk, Princess! A whiny, bratty jerk!"

Princess suddenly seemed to snap at this remark, and took another step forward towards Buttercup. A she did, she swung a punch; an uncoordinated, sloppy punch at Buttercup. She dodged it easily, and grabbed Princess' right hand as it came by, pulling Princess towards herself.

As she came stumbling towards Buttercup, the Powerpuff span her around so her back was to her, pulling Princess' right arm up at a painful angle. Keeping her grip tight on Princess' right hand, Buttercup wrapped her right arm around Princess' neck in a chock hold, though Buttercup was careful not to squeeze tight enough to cause any damage.

Princess struggled to free herself, but Buttercup held on securely. She lowered her head, towards Princess' ear, and whispered, "Listen Princess. I don't know _why_ you think you can just come along and shove yourself in our team when one of us goes missing, but I suppose I should have expected that from _you_ by now!" When Buttercup finished speaking, she brought her foot up to the small of Princess' back, and shoved her away from herself; Princess stumbling a few paces forward before bringing herself to a halt. "Now please, for your sake, and for that of my sister's, please get lost!"

Princess span round again, and rather than listening to Buttercup, just goaded her instead, "You wanna fight then, huh? Come on then, gimme your best shot!"

Buttercup and Princess stared, eye-to-eye. Everyone else watched in breathless anticipation; even Bubbles was frozen in terror. Suddenly someone ran in front of Buttercup protectively. To everyone's shock, it was the person in the class whom everyone associated with nervousness and shyness: Mike.

He cried out, "Leave them alone Princess! What have they really ever done to you?! _They_ have done so much for everyone, for us…for me! And yet you feel it's okay to be…be…so _mean_ to them!"

Princess did not take the interruption kindly. "Get outta here you little scamp!" she shrieked, shoving him away harshly. Mike stumbled backwards and fell to the ground, the back of his head impacting the playground hard. Everyone, except Princess, stared in horror. There was a brief second of silence, before Mike began to cry loudly.

"Mike!" Bubbles cried, dashing to his side.

Hearing the commotion, Ms. Keane walked outside. She was presented with the sight of Mike, lying on the ground, crying his eyes out with Bubbles kneeling by his side. Buttercup and Princess were still giving each-other death stares, and the remaining children were watching in shock and awe. "What's going on here!" she shouted.

After a few silent moments of exchanged glances, Robin answered her. "Princess was bugging Buttercup and Mike tried to break them up and then she pushed him over!"

"Bubbles, take Mike inside!" Ms. Keane ordered. Bubbles nodded, helping Mike to his feet and leading him back indoors. Then Ms. Keane turned to the source of the issue. "PRINCESS MORBUCKS!"

Princess' eyes were still locked with Buttercup, and she looked up upon hearing her voice. "What do you want? Can't you see I'm busy?!"

More severe than anyone had heard her before, Ms. Keane said, "Little lady, your attitude of late has been completely unacceptable! You've been disrespectful to me, rude to your classmates, and have constantly attempted to incite fights between yourself and the Powerpuff Girls!"

Buttercup added, "We don't care about any offer, deal, or anything else you have to say to us!"

"Princess, I want you to go and sit inside, and I'll deal with you in a minute!" Ms. Keane emphasised her order by pointing at the door.

"Fine!" Princess shouted huffily, storming off indoors.

Ms. Keane sighed, shaking her head. She turned to face Buttercup. "Are you all right Buttercup?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just fed up of her," Buttercup responded.

"Well I'll deal with her presently. In the meantime-…" Ms. Keane was cut off by the noise of jet engines. Everyone looked towards the classroom door in time to see Princess flying out from the building, hovering in front of them.

"I've had it with your sort of company!" she yelled. "If you wanna be like this, then be my guest! I'll go and socialise with people who actually appreciate my company!" Before Ms. Keane could stop her, she flew off and away from the school.

"And you stay away from us!" Buttercup yelled after her, as Princess disappeared over the horizon, presumably back to her mansion.

Ms. Keane sighed tiredly, gesturing for all the kids to go back into the classroom. Inside, Bubbles was sitting next to Mike, who was holding an ice pack to the back of his head.

Buttercup walked over to them and asked, "Are you okay now?" Mike nodded meekly. Buttercup paused, and then continued, "You shouldn't have jumped into the middle of me and Princess like that! She could've hurt you badly!"

"I know," Mike replied, timidly. "I just didn't like how mean she was being to you Buttercup. She shouldn't be like that."

"I would've been fine!" Buttercup admonished, before turning and heading back to her normal desk.

When Buttercup had gone, Bubbles turned to Mike and smiled. "She probably doesn't want to say thank you herself, but I know she feels it. You probably stopped her from getting into a big fight with Princess back there. Who knows how that could've turned out? Thank-you, Mike," she said and hugged him gently. Mike was surprised and he blushed furiously. Bubbles broke away, giggling and smiling, moving over to join Buttercup.

* * *

The rest of the day passed as normal, and though Buttercup kept a close eye and ear out for Princess, she never reappeared. At the sound of the end of school bell, Bubbles and Buttercup leapt into the sky, heading for home.

As the two flew through the air, Buttercup remarked, "Well, I'm glad it seems Princess has given up on us."

"Yeah," Bubbles agreed. "I hate fighting, but I really felt like givin' her a whack when she hurt Mike like that." She paused. "What are we gonna do now?"

"Let's get home and ask the Professor if he's had any news. If he hasn't, we'll go and search around for Blossom again."

Bubbles nodded in agreement, "Okay."

A couple of minutes later, the girls arrived home, to a very quiet house. Buttercup opened the door, calling out, "Professor?" There was no response.

The two floated inside. As they entered the living room, they saw the Professor passed out on the couch, snoring lightly. He was in the exact same position he'd been in when they'd gone to school that morning. The telephone was sitting on the table right by him.

"Oh…" Bubbles whispered.

Buttercup added, also in a hushed tone, "He must've been sitting by that phone all night!"

"Shall we…put him to bed?" Bubbles suggested tentatively.

"I suppose so. It's the least we can do right now."

Gently lifting him up, Buttercup and Bubbles slowly and carefully carried the Professor upstairs, entering his bedroom and setting him down on the bed in a comfortable position. Once they were sure he was settled and was still asleep, the two left the room, closing the door quietly.

As they hovered back downstairs, the phone started to ring. Bubbles and Buttercup stared at it, and then glanced at each-other briefly. Buttercup shrugged, and flew over to answer it. "Uh…hello?" she said uncertainly.

"Hello, Buttercup," a distorted voice said from the other end, "I have something of interest for you."

"Huh? Who is this?" Buttercup asked, gesturing for Bubbles to fly over and listen in.

"Talk," the voice said, and the noise of a phone moving around came. For a few seconds, there was silence. Suddenly the voice came again, "I said _talk!_ " and there was the sound of a harsh slap. From the phone, came a few quiet whimpers and mumbling sounds.

Although muffled, the sounds were all too familiar to the girls, "Blossom?!" Buttercup said in disbelief.

Bubbles leaned in further, so she could speak down the receiver, "Blossom? Are you okay?"

But already the phone had changed hands again. The voice continued, "I thought you'd just like to know that your dear Blossom is safe and well for the moment."

Just then, another voice near the phone came, "Big Billy ready to take watch fur da Powapuff Gurl."

"Shut up Billy!" the voice snapped, briefly turning normal, and very obviously belonging to Ace. His voice became distorted again as he said, "Goodbye Powerpuff Girls," and the phone hung up seconds later.

The pair were silent for a few moments. Finally, Bubbles spoke up, "The Gangreen Gang?! _They're_ behind this?!"

"Well let's not hang around!" Buttercup cried out. "Let's get down there!" without hesitating, Bubbles and Buttercup flew out of the front door, heading to the dump as fast as they could.

They arrived at the dump within minutes, and charged into the Gang's shack, smashing the door clean off the hinges. "Not so fast Gangreen Gang!" they shouted in unison.

To their surprise, though, the gang was nowhere in sight. "Where are they?" Bubbles wondered.

"I guess they made a run for it as soon as they realised we were coming; look at the furniture," Buttercup indicated. Indeed, the shack's miniscule furnishings were strewn about, a telltale sign of a group of people making a speedy exit.

"Well let's have a look around; maybe they left some clues," Bubbles said. Buttercup nodded and the two began to carefully examine the room.

A couple of minutes passed. "Find anything Bubbles?" Buttercup eventually asked.

Bubbles was feeling along one of the walls, looking at it closely. "Nothing ye-hey!" she cried.

Buttercup twirled round, "What is it?"

"There's something here," Bubbles said, carefully examining a barely noticeable gap between two planks of wood. "It…It looks like a hidden door!"

Before Bubbles could say anything else, Buttercup suddenly zoomed over, demolishing the door with a quick kick, revealing the hidden room. Inside, Blossom was shackled to the wall, and she was frantically struggling and trying to cry out.

Elated, Bubbles and Buttercup cried out together, "Blossom!"

The two speedily zipped over to Blossom. Whilst Buttercup worked on trying to free Blossom from the restraints, Bubbles ripped the tape off of her mouth. As she did this, Blossom shouted, "Girls, no! It's a trap!"

Buttercup and Bubbles had barely even time to blink, before Ace and the rest of the gang appeared from behind a fallen table in the back of the room, and fired an orange blast from a somewhat square shaped laser gun with two transparent containers atop it. The blast hit Bubbles in the back, and she screeched in surprise, dropping to the ground on her knees, the fight blasted out of her.

Buttercup spun round, just in time to see another shot coming straight for her. She had no time to dodge, taking the shot right in the face. She stumbled, but stayed standing. She shook her head, stared at the gang with a look of fury, and growled, "You…" She raised her fist and quickly moved towards the gang. But she staggered more than she ran, and seemed to be having trouble keeping her eyes focused on the gang. As she reached them, Arturo suddenly stepped aside and stuck out one of his legs, tripping Buttercup up and sending her head-first into the table. The side of her head hit the table hard, and she grimaced in pain, before sliding to the ground out cold.

"Buttercup!" Blossom cried. "Bubbles, do something!"

Bubbles was struggling to stand, her eyes glazed and half-closed. "I can't…" she mumbled, finally giving in and falling unconscious.

"Bubbles, no! You fiends!" Blossom raged, thrashing in desperation. She inhaled, ready to fire a blast of ice breath from her now free mouth, but before she could, Ace fired once again, hitting Blossom. "Ahhhh!" she cried in shock.

The gang strode over, beginning to chain up Bubbles and Buttercup like Blossom. "What _is_ that gun?" Blossom asked, her eyelids drooping as she felt herself beginning to black out again.

Ace grinned, and showed her the side. "I'm told this should look familiar to you."

Blossom struggled to read, murmuring her words. Her face changed into one of shock as she read the most important part, "…shooting the antidote of Chemical X at the Powerpuff Girls…and eliminating…their…powers…" she slurred on the final word, her head finally drooping down, to the fiendish chuckles of the gang…

 _ **End of Part 2**_

* * *

 **A/N: Okay, this took much longer than it should've, but I finally did it! I struggled for a while to decide what way the story was gonna go whilst staying close to the original series. I feel this chapter doesn't have much substance to it, but I wanted to get it out so I can move on to the rest of the story, where I have plenty of ideas of how it's gonna go.**

 **Thanks for waiting, and hopefully Part 3 will be here in not too long.**


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